Several thousand displaced after fresh clashes in Isiolo

Thu, 30 Aug 2012

Fresh clashes in Isiolo pitting Turkana, Somali and Borana communitieshas led to displacement of thousands of families. Accroding to IRIN, herders from Wajir and Mandera districts have also started leaving Isiolo following a government directive.

Photo: Vivian Onyango

"We have lost a lot of animals and people," said Hassan Nurow, a livestock owner who was heading to Wajir. "We were expecting the government to protect us but unfortunately... [the government] instead ordered us to leave and blamed us for causing the skirmishes."

"These people have no reason to be around. They came here because of the drought. It has rained [and] Northeastern [Province] has enough pasture, so they have to leave immediately," Iringo told IRIN.

The herders were said to have been asked by local politicians to remain in Isiolo to allow them to register to vote in the upcoming 2013 elections. Politics and planned development schemes have fuelled an upsurge in inter-communal killings and displacements in Isiolo since mid-October 2011.